Using Other Catalogs

Our catalog is the definitive place for finding U-M Library materials. It also shows what’s available at the Bentley Historical Library, Clements Library, and U-M Flint’s Thompson Library.

If you’re looking for items associated with the U-M Law School, Ross School of Business, or U-M Dearborn, you’ll need to search their library catalogs separately.

To find materials outside of U-M

If we don’t have the materials you’re looking for, we can typically borrow it for you from another library using interlibrary loan.

To get an idea of item availability before placing your loan request, you can search:

WorldCat, a combined catalog of thousands of libraries across the United States and around the world. It includes direct links to request items through interlibrary loan.
- WorldCat.org, an alternate version for those not affiliated with U-M, will show you when an item you’re looking for is available at a library nearby.
Center for Research Libraries Catalog, another large network of research libraries. This is particularly useful for finding rare and uncommon primary source materials.

Check local libraries

Don’t forget to check your local public library. Many participate in MeLCat, which allows you to borrow materials from libraries around the state.

Through a reciprocal borrowing program, you can also borrow materials as a guest from Eastern Michigan University and Washtenaw Community College.

Access millions of titles online. HathiTrust contains digitized content from U-M and libraries around the world. Items in the public domain — more than a third of the collection — are fully available for everyone in the United States. Items held in copyright are full-text searchable.